


Family is Forever

by therunawaypen



Series: Avengers Tumblr Prompt Fills [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Golden Apple, Jotunn | Frost Giant, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-03 14:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1071542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therunawaypen/pseuds/therunawaypen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is alone on Christmas Eve. To make things worse, he suspects Loki might want to end their relationship. Why else would the god of mischief be so secretive?</p><p>Loki brings Tony a present he wasn't expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh oh! Christmas Prompts! Well, Loki has been keeping a secret and Tony begins to suspect the god might want to end their relationship. To make matters worse the rest of the Avengers end up in different places for a few missions and apparently Tony spent Christmas Eve alone. That is, until Loki appears and gives his gifts: First, a pair of tiny shoes, gloves and blue hat; and second, a golden apple, because the family is forever. Something along those lines would be great, thanks in advance! —anon

The downside of being in a relationship with the Asgardian god of mischief (or whatever the fuck he was) was that you never quite knew what he was up to, especially when he would vanish for days on end with absolutely no notice.

 _Well_ , Tony mused, taking a long drink of his scotch, _As long as he doesn’t kill 80 people and unleash an alien invasion in a Tesseract-induced rage_ …

It was vacant in the Avengers Tower; it was one of the few nights when Tony was actually alone. Capsicle and Legolas were off on an assignment, Bruce was giving a lecture somewhere for S.H.E.I.L.D., Thor was off doing Asgardian things no doubt and there was no telling where Natasha was (most likely on an assignment that she’d never talk about).

And of course, there had been no sign of Loki for days. So Tony was free to enjoy himself in the solitude of the Tower.

Of course, that would imply that Tony liked solitude. Which he didn’t. So, in short, he wasn’t enjoying himself.

It didn’t help that the date was December 24th, Christmas Eve, and he was alone, staring at the massive Christmas tree erected in the living room. The tree had been Cap’s idea, the sentimentalist that he was, and he had roped everyone into decorating it (though even Tony would admit that he had gone overboard with the lights and the tree looked like it belonged on display somewhere in Times Square).

But it was probably better that Tony was alone, he probably wouldn’t be any good company tonight, not with Loki gone. The god/alien/whatever had been very secretive in the past few days, distant. That, coupled with his disappearance…well, Tony knew the signs when he saw them. Pepper had some the same thing shortly before she had told Tony that they needed to “talk,” which lead to a very emotional breakup.

Tony couldn’t say he was surprised; he wasn’t exactly the kind of man who could keep a relationship long before he managed to screw things up. It was only a matter of time…

“Anthony?”

The genius nearly spilled his drink at the sound of Loki’s voice behind him. Tony turned from his seat on the couch to see the god of mischief standing on the other side of the room, “There you are, reindeer games.” Tony put on a smile, “You really should teach Thor your trick to dimension/realm/world hop without all the thunder and lightning.” He teased.

Loki smirked, “I doubt Thor would listen to my guidance. I do believe he enjoys the showmanship of his grand entrance.” He walked closer to the Christmas tree, “I’m not too late, am I? Timing can be tricky between worlds, and I would hate to have missed out on this celebration you Midgardians have been anticipating.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t miss it.” Tony took another drink, “It’s Christmas Eve, you made it just in time.”

“How fortunate.” Loki nodded, “Though I cannot help but notice your comrades are not here celebrating with you.”

Tony shrugged, “Duty called. Such is the life of a superhero.”

“Of course.” The god sat beside Tony, “Forgive me if this sounds rude, but I am glad we are alone this evening. There is something of great importance we must discuss.”

 _There it is…_ Tony could feel his heart sinking into his stomach. Then he saw the two wrapped gifts in Loki’s hands, “Those for me?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“They are.” Loki nodded, setting aside a bundle wrapped in bright colored cloth while handing a small wooden box to Tony, “There is something you must know before you open that box, Anthony. I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but I am not Asgardian by birth.”

“So Thor wasn’t kidding when he said you were adopted.” Tony nodded slowly, “Alright, so…you’re a different kind of god/alien race?”

“Jötunn.” Loki answered, “The race of the Frost Giants, but that isn’t the point I’m trying to make at the moment. The past few weeks I have been feeling…ill. I worried that it had something to do with my Jötunn blood. So I returned to Asgard to make sure.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, shaking the box slightly, “And that’s why you’ve been gone…” He paused, “So was your illness due to you being the abominable snowman?”

Loki paused, opening his mouth to question the reference, then shook his head, “Yes, in a way…though, perhaps you should open the present first.”

As if Tony needed any more of a reason to open his early Christmas present. He lifted the lid to the box, only to frown at the small blue hat that was nestled in the box’s velvet lining. Under the hat, there were a pair of both miniature mittens and booties.

“Um, thanks Loki…” Tony paused, “But I don’t think these are my size…”

“Tony,” Loki took Tony’s hands, “They aren’t meant to be worn by you…Jötunns only have one gender, so childbearing  is capable by all Jötunns of age.”

The gears in Tony’s mind ground to a halt, “Hold up…are you telling me that you’re…”

Loki nodded.

He stared at the blue garments, “A boy?”

Another nod.

Tony felt light headed, “So what’s the other present? If it’s a pair of pink mittens and you’re trying to tell me you’re having twins, I might need a stronger drink.”

Loki chuckled, relief on his face, “No Anthony, I’m only carrying your son. But this gift…” he picked up the second package, “Is the most precious thing any Midgardian can be given, and it took a bit of pleading on my part to get this for you…”

 _Well…no pressure then_ Tony mused as he carefully unwrapped the layers of vibrant cloth.

It was an apple, at least that was what it looked like, except it was gold. “I’m afraid I don’t know the significance of this Loki,” Tony admitted, “You’re going to have to walk me through this one.”

“Anthony.” Loki took Tony’s hands, which were still wrapped around the apple, in his own, “This is an apple of immortality. I begged Idunn to allow me to give you this because…Anthony, I cannot imagine life without you. It has been the source of my nightmares since we began our courtship. And now that you are the father of my child…I want to spend eternity with you.”

Well that certainly beat the hell out of the ring Tony had stashed under the tree. But before Tony could open his mouth to reply, the clock on the other side of the room began to chime midnight.

Tony smiled, “Merry Christmas, Loki.” He took the god/frost giant/whatever into his arms, kissing him softly, “And here’s to _many_ more.”


	2. Chapter 2

There were always a wide variety of challenges one must face when one is expecting. Tony knew that, he _was_ , after all, a genius.

Of course, he had no clue what to expect when the one “expecting” was a _male_ alien frost giant. That one was new, even for Tony.

So when Tony woke up to find his lover/fiancé, curled in his arms, cold to the touch and turning blue, it was needless to say that he panicked.

“Loki!” Tony sat up, trying to wake his fiancé while checking to make sure he was still breathing, “Loki!”

The frost giant blinked his eyes open sluggishly, bloodshot and bleary, “Anth’ny, what are you doing…”

“Making sure you’re still alive!” Tony shook his head, “I gotta find Thor, I have no idea how to deal with Jötunn sickness.” He didn’t even give Loki the chance to answer before he ran from the room, intent on finding the god of thunder.

When Tony got to the thunderer’s room and found it empty, he swore, “So help me, if I find you in Cap’s room…”

Luckily for both of them, Tony found Thor in the kitchen, preparing a large feast of Poptarts for breakfast.

“Alright big guy, we don’t have time for breakfast.” Tony grabbed Thor’s arm, “Something is wrong with your brother, let’s go.”

Thor was nearly thrown off balance (or as off balance as an Asgargian could be), “What is wrong with Loki?”

“I was hoping you could tell me!” Tony snapped as they returned to his bedroom.

When they entered the room, Tony’s heart stopped. Sprawled out on the bed was Loki, his stomach swollen with their son, and his skin a darker blue than it had been previously. His eyes were even redder and his breaths were coming in short gasps.

Tony, scared for his lover, moved to check on Loki, only to have Thor grab him, “I’m afraid it would be unwise for you to touch my brother at the moment, regardless of how much you want to. Jötunns are so cold to the touch that they would freeze your flesh on contact. Without my brother’s glamour, there is nothing to protect you.”

“What, you mean this is supposed to happen?” Tony frowned, looking back at Loki.

“That is the true form of the Frost Giants.”

“So he’s not dying.”

“I’m not dying, I’m in labor!” Loki roared, snarling at them both.

Oh… _oh!_ “Labor?” Tony didn’t know which was worse: death or labor.

Thor, on the other hand, moved to Loki’s side, “What do you need?”

Loki’s brow furrowed in pain, “…too hot…”

The thunderer looked at Tony, “You will need ice.” He said firmly, wrapping his pregnant brother in a blanket before picking him up. None the less, Tony could see the fabric of the blanket freeze and grow brittle as it was pressed against Loki’s skin.

Tony and Thor (mostly Thor) managed to move Loki to the bathtub and, after having JARVIS kick the ice machine into hyperdrive, covered him with enough ice to (hopefully) cool him down.

Through the pants, groans, and screams of Loki, Tony could see a further transformation to his fiancé. Dark blue skin with ridges curled around his body, and his eyes were blood red. And…were those horns growing from Loki’s forehead?

Of course, in the back of Tony’s mind, he realized he was trying to distract himself from the fact that he was about to become a father. During Loki’s pregnancy, Tony had been able to push the thought to the back of his mind, like something that could be dealt with at a later time.

A sharp cry filled the air, jerking Tony from his thoughts, and Tony felt his blood run cold, because he realized the time had come.

There was blood in the ice, and more importantly, his son was being pulled from it, screaming bloody murder.

“Well at least he’s got healthy lungs…” Tony mused.

“Indeed, he is a healthy babe indeed.” Thor nodded, passing the boy to Tony, “Your son, my friend.”

 _His son_.

He was a tiny thing. Tiny and blue. For a moment, Tony wondered why he wasn’t getting frost bite from the tyke, before he realized there were more important things to worry about. Such as cleaning the bodily fluids that covered the tiny child.

And so Tony distracted himself with using a washrag to clean off his child, focusing on the tiny life in his arms.

“Anthony…”

Tony blinked, his gazed torn to look at Loki, exhausted as he lie in the bathtub. “This isn’t how I intended for our child to enter the world…or how I planned to show you my true form…”

“Yeah, well you know what they say about good intentions…or something like that.” Tony chuckled, “So…blue, huh?”

Loki looked down, “I’m hideous…when I regain my strength, I’ll put my glamour back on… and on our son.”

Tony looked back at the boy in his arms, “Well at least we know he looks good in blue…” He smiled, “Do you want to hold him.

That brought a small smile to Loki’s blue lips, “I would…I need to feed him.” He chuckled.

They were careful in passing the boy between them, making sure not to touch for fear of freezing Tony.

“You’ll be able to withstand the touch more…after the wedding.” Loki murmured. It was quiet, but Tony knew what Loki really meant.

After Tony ate the apple.

 


End file.
